Facebook Review
Facebook was founded in February 2004, although it was not until 2006 that it really took off. At present there are currently 64 million users on Facebok and this number is forever growing. Facebook owes its success to entering the social networking market just at the right time, and with a sleek and easy to use design it has become the one and only socnet site for millions of people.
Features
Photos and tagging - One of the most popular features of Facebook is the ability to add photos that can then be "tagged" by other users. By doing this users are able to mark parts of the photo with a friends face on that then links to their user profile. Myspace came up with a similar feature some months later.
Marketplace - Allowing users to place classified ads that range from items for sale, to job openings, Facebooks Marketplace features has enabled the community to turn into an advertising haven and money making oppurtunity for those whose take advantage of it.
Applications - One of Facebooks latest feature is the application platform. This allows any user to create a custom built application using Facebooks own framework, opening up the possibility for games and so on. There at present around 13,000 custom built applications, some have been extremely succesfull and the creators have earnt millions in advertising revenue and incentive schemes.
Pokes - Facebook have no real definition on pokes, it is interepreted in many different ways from users and is a simple way to interact with others. There are a few applications that have been developed that allow you to put in a different action instead of poke.
Interface
Facebook uses a simple and sleak interface for users to interact, in comparison to myspace it gives very little customisation on how a person profile can appear. Some argue this is Facebooks weak point, however from a security point of view it is very beneficial. The menu on the left side can be edited to view which applications the user want, i.e photos, groups, marketplace etc etc. The top menu accesses the users profile, friends, networks and inbox. The simple design ensures users can view exactly what they want quickly and easily.
Many would say that the success of such a site relies mainly upon its design and ease of use. A good example of this would be google. Google adopted a no nonsense search engine that anybody could easily use and navigate, couple this with its functionality and it was a huge success. Facebook has used a similar scheme and has also had great success as possibly the most succesfull socnet website out there.
Summary
It is clear to see that Facebook has become the number 1 in socnet and for a good reason. Many people would say its downside is its lack of customisation, however since the application framework has been introduced, many are finding that the posibilites are endless for custom made facebook apps. There has however been certain speculation about facebooks privacy policy, many have commented upon the fact that once a users profile is online, facebook is the sole owner of it, and should a user then wish to leave it is still unclear as to what happens to that profile. With this in mind people have been warned to be careful as to how much personal information they give out on their profiles.
Some interesting articles in regards to this can be found here:
Dr Dobb's look on Facebooks privacy
BBC News: facebook privacy questions
Screenshots
Just to wrap up there are some screenshots below, check them out (click for larger image)
